No. 11 seed North Carolina (22-13) vs. No. 11 seed San Diego State (21-9)
Tuesday, March 18 — 9:10 p.m.
Dayton, Ohio — UD Arena
TV: TruTV (Spero Dedes, Jim Spanarkel, Jon Rothstein)
Radio: Tar Heels Sports Network (Jones Angell, Tyler Zeller)
Quotables
“It was a do-or-die situation for us for the past month, and whether we realized it or not, we performed at a high level. I think that’s a good sign for us, knowing that when our backs were against the wall and the pressure was on us, we were able to perform at a high level. We don’t really see it as pressure, and I think that’s what my message would be to the team. It’s really about the opportunity. What are you going to do with the opportunity? Are you going to take advantage of it? I feel like we did it the past month, and we’ve just got to carry this over into this stretch.” — UNC guard RJ Davis on Monday night at UD Arena, after the Tar Heels arrived in Dayton for the First Four.
“I think we’ve all kind of felt the hate, the disagreement, all that, from everybody outside of the Carolina family and fan base. We’re just running with it. We definitely feel like we’ve got something to prove. We wanted to be better this year, but we deal with the cards at hand. So absolutely.” — UNC guard Seth Trimble on Monday night, when asked if the Tar Heels have something to prove in the NCAA Tournament.
“The preparation is the same. We’ve played three games in a row in Maui. We’ve played three games in a row in the ACC Tournament. There’s twice during conference season where we’ve had Saturday games and then had to play Monday against a different opponent on the road. In regards to preparation and practice, none of that has changed, and we’ll be prepared to play our best tomorrow against a really good San Diego State team.” — UNC coach Hubert Davis on Monday night at UD Arena.
Pregame Notes
Sneaking into the Big Dance: Carolina barely got into the NCAA Tournament. The Tar Heels were the last at-large team in the 68-team field, and joined San Diego State, Xavier and Texas as the last four teams in the NCAA Tournament. Selection committee vice-chair Keith Gill said UNC’s tournament status was dependent on the result of the AAC Tournament championship game, which ended on Sunday less than an hour before the selection show. The favorite Memphis defeated UAB 84-72, which prevented a potential bid stealer from the league. If UAB had upset Memphis instead, therefore stealing a tournament bid, Carolina would have slipped to the first team left out of the field, Gill said.
The Tar Heels are playing in the First Four for the first time in program history. The First Four portion of the tournament began in 2011, when the NCAA field expanded from 64 to 68 teams. And in 12 of the 13 tournaments since then, at least one team that played in the First Four has advanced to the Round of 32 in the tournament. Two teams have advanced all the way from the First Four to the Final Four (VCU in 2011 and UCLA in 2021). The No. 11 seed is UNC’s lowest in the program’s NCAA Tournament history.
This marks the 54th season overall Carolina has made the NCAA Tournament, and the third time in four seasons under coach Hubert Davis. UNC has the most all-time wins in the NCAA Tournament with 133 victories, ahead of fellow blue-blood programs Kentucky (130), Duke (122), Kansas (113) and UCLA (110). UNC has appeared in 21 Final Fours, the most all-time, and is the only program to appear in the Final Four in each of the last nine decades.
UNC guard RJ Davis and San Diego State guard Nick Boyd. (Photo: Jim Hawkins, Inside Carolina / Getty Images)
Looking at San Diego State: The Aztecs are making their 12th NCAA Tournament appearance in the last 15 seasons, and are 21-9 overall on the season. They went 14-6 in Mountain West Conference play. It’s the 17th overall NCAA Tournament appearance for San Diego State. The Aztecs are 13-16 all-time in the Big Dance. San Diego State is 9-6 away from home this season, going 6-4 in road games and 3-2 at neutral sites.
San Diego State picked up a pair of massive victories early on this season. SDSU beat Creighton (by a 71-53 margin) and Houston (73-70 in overtime) in the Players Era Festival in Las Vegas in November. Now, Houston has earned a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. That early stretch for the Aztecs also included wins against UC San Diego (63-58) and Division III Occidental College (100-49), and losses to Gonzaga (80-67) and Oregon (78-68).
The Aztecs got off to a shaky start in league play, losing three of their first seven games. SDSU fell to Utah State (67-66), New Mexico (62-48) and UNLV (76-68). But San Diego State turned things around in late January, stringing together seven victories across an eight-game stretch. That included defeats of Air Force (77-76 in overtime), Nevada (69-50), San Jose State (71-68 and 69-66), Wyoming (63-61), Boise State (64-47) and Fresno State (83-60). SDSU was bounced in the Mountain West Tournament quarterfinals, falling to Boise State (62-52).
The Aztecs are led by eighth-year coach Brian Dutcher. He was a longtime assistant under Steve Fisher at Michigan (1989-98) and San Diego State (1999-2017). Dutcher long has been credited as one of the key recruiters in putting together Michigan’s fabled Fab Five recruiting class. Dutcher led the Aztecs to their first-ever NCAA championship game in 2023. San Diego State has been beaten by back-to-back champion Connecticut in the last two NCAA Tournaments, losing to the Huskies with the national title on the line in 2023, and in the Sweet 16 last season. Since the 2019-20 season, San Diego State’s 155-43 record (78.3 percent) is the third-best winning percentage in college basketball, behind only Gonzaga (173-29 or 85.6 percent) and Houston (178-31 or 85.2 percent).
Guards Drive Inconsistent Offense: A three-headed attack at guard leads the way for the Aztecs. Nick Boyd, Miles Byrd and BJ Davis are the top scorers on the season for San Diego State, and have accounted for 48.7 percent of the team’s scoring production. Boyd is supplying a team-best 13.4 points per game, while shooting 41.7 percent from the field, including 35.7 percent from 3-point range. He’s in his first season at San Diego State, after playing three seasons at Florida Atlantic. He was a starter on the FAU team that made a Cinderella run to the 2023 Final Four.
Byrd is in his third season at San Diego State, his first as a full-time starter. He’s averaging 12.6 points, 4.5 rebounds and 2.1 steals per game. The 6-foot-7 Byrd’s scoring production has increased by more than 8½ points per game this season. He pumped in a career-high 25 points in the Aztecs’ Jan. 14 victory against Colorado State, while raining in five 3-pointers. The sophomore Davis is providing 9 points and 3 rebounds per game.
San Diego State has struggled some on offense this season. The Aztecs are shooting 44.4 percent from the field, 33.5 percent from 3-point range, and 66.6 percent on free throws. SDSU ranks in the bottom half of the Mountain West in those three major shooting categories. The Aztecs are rated No. 111 nationally in adjusted offensive efficiency, according to Ken Pomeroy’s college basketball database. That’s the worst offensive rating among at-large teams in the NCAA Tournament field.
Rim Protector Expected to Return: Magoon Gwath is set to play on Tuesday night in the First Four, according to reports, and return from an injury that has sidelined him for nearly a month. Gwath suffered a knee injury two minutes into San Diego State’s loss on Feb. 22 at Utah State. He hasn’t played since. Factoring in that loss at Utah State, SDSU is 3-3 without the services of the 7-foot, 205-pound Gwath. The Aztecs are 18-6 in games with the big man fully available.
Gwath is supplying 8.5 points, 5.2 rebounds and an imposing 2.6 blocked shots per game here in his redshirt freshman season. He ranks sixth nationally in blocked shots per game. Gwath’s rim protection forms a major piece in the Aztecs’ 18.5-percent block rate, the best blocked shot percentage in the country, per KenPom. Gwath has accounted for more than 40 percent of San Diego State’s total blocked shots. He claimed Defensive Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year honors in the Mountain West this season. He compiled 25 points and 10 rebounds in early December in the road victory at Fresno State, becoming the first San Diego State freshman to produce a 25-10 game since Kawhi Leonard.
The Aztecs hang their hat on the defensive end. SDSU leads the Mountain West in scoring defense (63.6 points per game), opponent field goal percentage (37.8 percent), and 3-point percentage (30.2 percent). The Aztecs rank No. 14 nationally in scoring defense and No. 11 nationally in adjusted defensive efficiency, according to KenPom. On Monday night in Dayton, Dutcher told reporters that the Aztecs have to keep the score of Tuesday night’s play-in game against UNC in the 70s, rather than the 80s or 90s, to have their best chance to win and advance.
Last Meeting: UNC steamrolled San Diego State 99-63 at the Smith Center to open the 1990-91 season. George Lynch topped Carolina with 18 points, while Hubert Davis added 16 points. The Tar Heels used a 19-0 run in the first half to distance themselves.
Series History: Carolina leads the all-time series 2-0. Those victories occurred in December 1988 (by a 103-92 margin) at the San Diego Sports Arena, and in November 1990 at the Smith Center. Jeff Lebo finished with 14 points in UNC’s first defeat of San Diego State. He was one of six Tar Heels to finish in double-digit scoring. Hubert Davis played in both of the previous meetings against the Aztecs.
Projected UNC Starters:
3 Elliot Cadeau (So., 6-1, 180) — 9.5 ppg, 6 apg, 2.9 rpg
4 RJ Davis (Gr., 6-0, 180) — 17 ppg, 3.7 apg, 3.5 rpg
9 Drake Powell (Fr., 6-6, 195) — 7.5 ppg, 3.3 rpg
22 Ven-Allen Lubin (Jr., 6-8, 230) — 8.5 ppg, 5.6 rpg
24 Jae’Lyn Withers (Gr., 6-9, 220) — 6.4 ppg, 4.4 rpg
Projected San Diego State Starters:
2 Nick Boyd (Sr., 6-3, 175) — 13.4 ppg, 4 apg, 3.8 rpg
10 BJ Davis (So., 6-2, 175) — 9 ppg, 3 rpg
21 Miles Byrd (So., 6-7, 190) — 12.6 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 2.8 apg
31 Jared Coleman-Jones (Sr., 6-10, 235) — 7.3 ppg, 5.1 rpg
40 Miles Heide (So., 6-10, 233) — 4 ppg, 3.6 rpg
UNC Info
San Diego State Info
